Blinded

We're in the throes of Snowpocalypse 2014 here in Portland - and by that, I mean at least three snowflakes were seen somewhere in the northern half of the state in the last twenty-four hours - and predictably, all the projects I suddenly have a hankering to do involve things in the garage, and there are four very icy deck steps between here and there, so...here I am, indoors.  (I'm not keen for a repeat of February's ice-related knee injury, which laid me up for three days, although being confined to the couch and playing video games certainly isn't the worst way to spend a long weekend.)

It's probably a good thing I'm kept indoors tonight, because there are a million indoors-related projects that need finishing. Case in point, I organized part of the craft room, unpacked a couple of boxes, rescued all our winter jackets from the basement, and did a bit of arranging in the guest room. 

It can be argued that paying the mortgage on a home is one of the most grown-up things you can do, but mostly, I've been vacillating between feeling like I'm just playing house and the guilty exhilaration that comes from demolishing and then building something permanent in a structure. (An emotional holdover from all the years of renting? Maybe. It's a bit of a paradigm shift to go from "Oh shit, we're never getting our deposit back" to "These improvements build equity!") It doesn't really help that there isn't a single room in the house that feels done yet, at least not to the point where I can sit back and be relatively satisfied with the layout and decor. 

One thing that has helped immensely are the blinds. Typically, they were a complete hassle to obtain - they were backordered for a month, and then when they finally arrived, I discovered I'd ordered the wrong length because I'm an idiot who only measures width, so back they went - but oh, how they make things feel a little more grown-up.

Yeah, the window trim hasn't been painted, and I haven't put up any curtains yet, but it's still SO MUCH BETTER.

When we moved in six months ago (wait, what???) one of our very first Home Depot purchases was a pack of fold-up paper shades, which we've been grudgingly living with ever since. Like with everything else, I have strong opinions on window treatments (surprise) and I knew we absolutely had to have the 2-inch blinds. After living with cheap plastic blinds for years and hating them, the 2-inch ones feel much more sophisticated (and will probably be easier to vacuum cat hair off of). I finally scored the blinds I wanted from JC Penney, which despite my measuring mishap has been absolutely the best place to shop. The blinds in question seem to be perennially 50% off, and when I ordered then, I scored an extra 20% off from a random weekend sale, making them significantly cheaper than Home Depot or online retailers. They're also decently well-made for the price, with metal gears and the movements feel very solid. Plus, when I realized my measuring mishap, I took them back to the store and discovered they have free direct-to-home shipping for returns. Awesome! Now we have light, privacy, and fancy blinds.

 It's very weird, though, how one's definition of "reasonable" changes upon signing the closing papers. If you'd told me I'd spend $180 on blinds for eight windows, I'd have laughed like crazy, but now it seems like a total steal. In the apartment, if I'd gone to Home Depot for a $5 can of spray paint or something, that's what I'd get, and I'd be done. Now, if we get out under $100, it's a cheap trip. (And I've probably forgotten like four things, at least one of which will necessitate a return trip later in the day.)

But it's worth it. Every strange bruise and mysterious cut, the constant layer of grime and the fact that I basically sign my paycheck over to Home Depot every two weeks - it's totally worth it. I love this house. I love working on it. I love figuring out how to get what we want without spending a million dollars. Some of it has definitely been annoying - plumbing, I'm looking directly at you - but it's a huge learning experience, and I love it, and every so often, I'll catch a glimpse of what it's going to look like when it's all done, and it looks amazing. 

For now, we're still covered in sawdust and eating pizza more nights than not, but at least we've got fancy new blinds.

Kitchen, now with 50% more grout!

It's election night, and instead of constantly refreshing the Google elections results, I'm electing to stare at my gorgeous new tile.

I finished the last bits of tile Saturday night, just in time for us to host a houseful of wonderful people for our friends Faith and Janet's surprise wedding shower. It went off without a hitch - there was so much love in our house I'm surprised it didn't float off the ground - and I am very pleased to know that there is PLENTY of room to have twenty lovely people hanging out with us. It was a great trial run for future holiday gatherings. 

Yesterday I spent four hours grouting and scrubbing the grout, but the extra time and effort was totally worth it. Those lines are PERFECT. I used the leftover charcoal gray grout from the floor, and it really makes the tile pop. I also glued the poor broken corner back onto our beautiful sink, and we will never mention the sink incident ever again. 

Seriously. Look at this:

  Before (with drywall - please ignore my haphazard, paranoid screw patterns)

  During (so grout. such mess. very tile)

I was not expecting tiling a wall to be such a pain in the ass. My tiles were sliding everywhere. Finally, I figured out that applying the grout and allowing it to dry for five or six minutes made it much stickier, and then the tiles would stay (mostly) in place.

And now look at it!

 I'm still not convinced the light over the sink should stay white. I'm strongly leaning toward spray-painting it a matte black right now, but I'm committed to living with it awhile, as my wise project manager husband suggested.  

Originally, I'd planned on painting the upper cabinets white, and staining the lowers with my favorite Minwax red oak, but right now, I'm kind of loving the juxtaposition of the wood with the crisp white subway tile and the dark industrial concrete. The 80s varnish absolutely has to go (it's not in very good shape anyway, and the cabinet doors especially are pretty rickety) but I'm starting to think having that rich, warm reddish-brown wood on the upper cabinets as well as the lowers would look pretty fantastic. (Plus, it would save me from having to paint, and given a choice between staining and painting, I'll choose stain every time.) My next project is the window seats by the back door, so I've got plenty of time to mull over my options. 

Happy belated Halloween! We had 59 trick-or-treaters come to our door, which was more than I could ever have hoped for. It was perfect - most of the kids were some form of zombie, and most of the costumes were home made. I love our neighborhood!!